WGBH Openvault

Say Brother; Island in America, An; Joseph Monserrat interview

In this clip New York City Board of Education President Joseph Monserrat, a Puerto Rican immigrant, talks about the historical reasons for the poverty of immigrants. Monserrat talks about the inability of the United States to embrace immigrant cultures, or to solve first generation immigration problems. Overall in this program, Say Brother presents the film An Island in America, produced by DHS Films, The Anti-Defamation League, and B'Nai Brith in cooperation with the School District of Philadelphia. Film relates the problems of Puerto Ricans who have immigrated to the United States, the reasons why over one-third of the population has left Puerto Rico, the challenges facing Puerto Ricans in achieving the "American dream," their struggles against racial discrimination and poverty, and the historical treatment of minorities in the United States. Film includes the commentary of Joseph Monserrat (then President of the New York City Board of Education) and Congressman Herman Badillo (who, in 1971, was the first Puerto Rican elected to Congress in the United States).

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Say Brother presents the film An Island in America, produced by DHS Films, The Anti-Defamation League, and B'Nai Brith in cooperation with the School District of Philadelphia. Film relates the problems of Puerto Ricans who have immigrated to the United States, the reasons why over one-third of the population has left Puerto Rico, the challenges facing Puerto Ricans in achieving the "American dream," their struggles against racial discrimination and poverty, and the historical treatment of minorities in the United States. Film includes the commentary of Joseph Monserrat (then President of the New York City Board of Education) and Congressman Herman Badillo (who, in 1971, was the first Puerto Rican elected to Congress in the United States).